ThinkBoard

A full-stack notes app built with the MERN stack. Notes carry structure, not just plain text, type, priority, deadline, location, and checklists all built in, with a dashboard that surfaces what matters automatically.

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 18 (Vite), Tailwind CSS, daisyUI
Backend	Node.js, Express
Database	MongoDB, Mongoose
Auth	JWT, bcrypt, client-side SHA-256 pre-hashing
Email	Resend
Rate Limiting	Upstash Redis, @upstash/ratelimit
Logging	Winston, Morgan
Error Tracking	Sentry (frontend + backend)
Testing	Mocha, Chai, Supertest, Sinon (backend) · Vitest, React Testing Library, MSW (frontend)
PDF Export	PDFKit
Runtime	Node.js v20 (ESM)

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Features

Notes with structure

• Type each note as a note, task, or event
• Set priority: low, medium, high
• Attach a deadline with overdue detection
• Attach a location
• Break work down with an inline checklist, progress tracked automatically

Dashboard

• Overdue and upcoming (next 7 days) items surfaced automatically
• Checklist completion progress at a glance
• Note counts by type
• Mini calendar with marked deadline dates, filter notes by day

Sharing & export

• Toggle a read-only share link for any note
• Export any note as a PDF

Split view

• Open two notes side by side on larger screens for comparing or cross-referencing

Auth & account

• Signup/login with hashed passwords
• Email verification flow
• Forgot / reset password flow
• Change password and update profile from settings
• Rate-limited auth endpoints against brute force

Appearance

• 12+ built-in themes via daisyUI, switchable from settings, persisted per-account

Keyboard shortcuts

• Cmd/Ctrl + K — command palette
• Shift + N — new note
• G then H — go to notes
• G then P — go to settings
• Cmd/Ctrl + Enter — save note
• Shift + ? — show shortcuts reference
• Esc — close modal/dialog

Reliability

• Centralized structured logging (Winston + Morgan)
• Sentry error tracking on both frontend and backend
• Global error boundary with automatic crash reporting
• IP-based and auth-specific rate limiting

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Getting Started

See SETUP.md for full setup instructions.

# Backend
cd backend && npm install && npm run dev

# Frontend
cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev

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Environment Variables

Backend

PORT=5001
MONGODB_URI=
JWT_SECRET=
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=
RESEND_API_KEY=
EMAIL_FROM=
FRONTEND_URL=
SENTRY_DSN_BACKEND=

Frontend

VITE_SENTRY_DSN=

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Testing

npm run test

Runs backend (Mocha) and frontend (Vitest) suites, including auth, notes API, rate limiting, and component tests.

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Project Structure

thinkboard/
├── backend/    # Express API, MongoDB models, auth, notes, PDF export
└── frontend/   # React app, Vite, Tailwind + daisyUI

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Author

Built by Faiz